Quote:
Originally Posted by Shroom
Whats the best way to search for the used Canadian cars? Just forums?
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I found mine here:
http://www.autotrader.ca/
Yes, sadly most Canadians are now advertising in dollars for almost the same price as US 1Ms. While the import process is not super difficult, there are still costs that our Canadian friends need to take into account when pricing their 1Ms for US sale.
- You have to pay 2.5% duty to import.
- It can take up to three months for you to finally receive real plates. (Usually US DMVs withhold plates until Canadian DMV confirms that there are no liens or theft reports on the car.
- When you do international wire transfer, the banks fudge the exchange rate so they get more money and you get a lower exchange rate. For example the exchange rate was 1 USD = 1.25 CAD but the bank used a rate where 1 USD dollar was 1.23 CAD. Plus $35 wire fee. So a $60K CAD 1M, the $.02 difference is about $780 USD plus $35 USD wire fee = $805 USD.
So using the $60K CAD 1M price. You would pay approximately $1500 in Customs fees, $805 in extra bank wire costs. Approximately $2300 USD.
I have seen a few Canadians recently posted on here for the same US price but didn't want to poop on anyone's ad. But our friends should understand that in order to make sense, there needs to be some savings! If you price in US dollars, they should be about at minimum 10% lower than a US car to make sense. The current exchange rate is 24% difference. 1 USD = .76 CAD
I guess the fairest is to split the difference to 12% because the Canadian owner will also have a little more work. They will need to request the letter of Compliance from BMW USA and have to wait for international wire transfer.
So if a 1M would be listed for $50K USD in the US, the same Canadian 1M probably should be listed for $44K USD to make sense to a US buyer. The US buyer would then pay about $2K USD in Customs Duties and bank wire costs. Net price would be $46K for the US person and our Canadian friends would also get more CAD than if he sold in Canada.
Finally, I have been asked this question about import duties. I have been asked if you can report a bogus amount. The answer is a strong emphatic NO! I repeat, don't freakin' do it! It's not worth it at 2.5%
The Customs guys are wearing flak jackets with ceramic plates and carrying M16s. They believe that everyone is lying to them and they are itching to find anyone to lie to them. I'm sure things are even worse with whats happening politically and any veneer of civility has be scraped off.
Simply provide the actual sales price and be ready with any supporting documentation like a wire transfer. If you buy it from a Canadian dealer, they are supposed to use the Canadian dealers sales invoice to base the 2.5% import duty. If you buy from a private party, they will use kelley blue book values in the US and disregard what you put down as a sale price so not worth lying to them. It would make their day to catch you and you might end up in a black site in Bahrain! : )
Finally, if you buy from a Canadian dealer, they will make you pay the 12% sales Canadian tax. It is very difficult to get around that though some smaller dealers might be willing to work around it if the car is picked up and moved to border, not driven off the lot and you export the same day and provide them proof of export. So you are still usually better of working with private party.